Katherine Duke

Neva “Katherine” Duke, 92, peacefully departed from this world on June 16th, 2025, with her daughter, Barbara “Brenda” Harrig at her side.

She was born on May 19th, 1933, in Grayson County, Kentucky to Neva Bozarth Duggins and Lennie Duggins. She later moved to Jeffersonville, Indiana where she met Howard, whom she married in 1954. After just one year, later she had her daughter, Brenda, followed by William “Little Billy Ray” four years later. They soon settled into the Portland neighborhood where she spent 62 years dedicated to her husband, Howard Duke, who was called home in 2018.

Katherine worked at the ICI/Army Ammunition Plant in Indiana. Sewing bags that would later hold gunpowder until it closed in 1992. Her little hands became knotted from so many years at a sewing machine, yet she still had the softest hands you could ever imagine which held onto her family until her last breath.

Katherine lived a simple, but full and happy life filled with love, kindness, and unwavering dedication to her family and friends. She was a beacon of warmth and generosity, always ready with a welcoming smile, a comforting hug and a sweet kiss for those she loved.

She was known for her big breakfasts, her world’s best fudge and her Christmas dinners, featuring her famous meatloaf, where laughter echoed and everyone felt welcomed. She was her daughter’s best friend, and her children were her whole world. To her grandchildren there was no sweeter sole. She was as perfect as they came, always ready with a listening ear and gentle, loving heart.

On summer nights, you could find Katherine on the front porch with her daughter, waving at neighbors as they waved at her, people watching and listening to her husband play guitar while her grandkids danced and chased fireflies.

Katherine loved bingo, word jumbles, puzzles, reading stories from her True Story magazines and exchanging handwritten letters with her best friend Jenny and her niece, Edna Kay. She often vacationed with her daughter, Brenda, and her grandkids, making memories abound. She visited her family every chance she could get and rarely missed a birthday, a wedding or a funeral.

Surviving is her daughter, Barbara “Brenda” Sue Harrig; two grandchildren, Shannan Harrig and Dustin Harrig; two great-grandchildren, Blake Harrig and Jade Simpson; two great-great-grandsons, Blake “Jamie” Harrig and Michael Harrig; two sisters, Dorothy Kay and Margaret; along with three bonus grandchildren and a multitude of cousins, nieces, nephews and extended family.

She is preceded in death by her parents, her husband, her toddler son, and eleven of her thirteen siblings: Eugene, Cecil, Doyle Raymond, Kenneth, Colbert, Millie, Daisy, Christine, James, Carl, Walter Ray, along with her grandma and grandpa and her aunt and uncle who raised her.

Visitation will be at JB Ratterman and Sons Funeral Home, 2114 W. Market Street, on Friday, June 20th, 2025, from 4:00PM until 8:00PM (E.S.T).   Followed with visitation at Huber Funeral Home, Tell City Chapel on Saturday, June, 21, 2025 from 10:00 AM until 1:00 PM.

Funeral services will be held on Saturday at 1:00 PM CST at Huber Funeral Home, Tell City Chapel with burial to follow in  Greenwood Cemetery.